Deal reached to allow inspection of Russian aid convoy

Updated 10:02 pm, Friday, August 15, 2014

Rebels hold their position on the front line near the village of Krasnodon in eastern Ukraine. Russia agreed to let Ukrainian officials inspect an aid convoy.

Rebels hold their position on the front line near the village of Krasnodon in eastern Ukraine. Russia agreed to let Ukrainian officials inspect an aid convoy.

Photo: Sergei Grits, Associated Press

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TOPSHOTS Employees of the Ukrainian Emergency Ministry rest as they unload food brought by the Ukrainian humanitarian convoy, on August 15, 2014 in the small eastern Ukrainian city of Starobilsk, Lugansk region. A spokesman for the Ukrainian government said on August 14 that 15 lorries would leave Kiev carrying around 240 tonnes of aid following a government pledge two days ago of roughly $750,000 (560,000 euros) in urgent assistance for the civilians living in insurgent-held territory. AFP PHOTO / ANATOLII STEPANOVANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/Getty Images less

TOPSHOTS Employees of the Ukrainian Emergency Ministry rest as they unload food brought by the Ukrainian humanitarian convoy, on August 15, 2014 in the small eastern Ukrainian city of Starobilsk, Lugansk ... more

Photo: Anatolii Stepanov, AFP/Getty Images

Image 3 of 3

A Palestinian protester throws a glass bottle at Israeli soldiers during clashes, following a protest against the Israeli military action over Hamas in Gaza, in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, Aug. 15 , 2014. Israel and Hamas are now observing a five-day temporary cease-fire in an attempt to allow indirect talks in Cairo to continue. The negotiations are meant to secure a substantive end to the monthlong Gaza war and draw up a roadmap for the coastal territory, which has been hard-hit in the fighting. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi) less

A Palestinian protester throws a glass bottle at Israeli soldiers during clashes, following a protest against the Israeli military action over Hamas in Gaza, in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, Aug. 15 , ... more

Photo: Nasser Shiyoukhi, Associated Press

Deal reached to allow inspection of Russian aid convoy

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Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Russia --

NATO said Friday that a Russian military column ventured overnight into Ukraine, and the Ukrainian president said his forces destroyed most of it. Russia denied the claims, but the reports overshadowed optimism driven by agreement over a Russian aid convoy bound for eastern Ukraine.

The Russian aid convoy of more than 250 trucks has been a source of tensions since it set off from Moscow on Tuesday. Kiev and the West were suspicious that the mission could be a pretext for a Russian military incursion into eastern Ukraine, where government forces are battling pro-Russia separatists and clawing back rebel-held territory.

Throughout the eastern crisis that erupted in April, there have been consistent allegations that Russia is fomenting or directing the rebellion. Moscow rejects the allegations and the high-profile aid convoy could be aimed, in part, at portraying Russia as interested in cooling the conflict.

It was not clear what Russia could hope to gain by sending in a military column while world attention was trained on its efforts to get the aid convoy into eastern Ukraine. But some foreign journalists reported that Russian personnel carriers were seen crossing into Ukraine on Thursday night. On Friday, a statement on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's website said "the given information was trustworthy and confirmed because the majority of the vehicles were destroyed by Ukrainian artillery at night."

NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen also confirmed that Russian military vehicles had entered Ukraine, but he gave no specifics.

In Moscow, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry insisted that no Russian military vehicles were destroyed because none had crossed into Ukraine.

After days of controversy, Russia nominally consented to let Ukrainian officials inspect the convoy while it was still on Russian soil and agreed that the Red Cross would distribute goods in Ukraine's Luhansk.

Laurent Corbaz, the International Committee of the Red Cross' director of operations in Europe, described a plan in which trucks would enter Ukraine with a Russian driver accompanied by a Red Cross worker.

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